Innoculations.... to poke or not to poke??

So my little guy has a Dr. visit today. Time for that dreaded yearly check up. And he's getting shots... lots of shots... because he's going to school next year. So, I'm torn. With all the news around innoculations these days, it's hard to make a choice I feel comfortable about.

Cons -- I have a healthy concern about putting too much man made junk in my precious darlings. We always get the minimum necessary to get by, yet still remain part of society. I hate being told how to raise my kid. He's healthy as a horse, and I'd like him to stay that way. Of my two boys, Josh is the one who would have some kind of weird reaction. He's allergic to bug bites. Attracts physical danger like a magnet ( I could list his hits and near hits, but it would take too long, maybe in a post some time). I hate Dr. offices. Just hate them. They stink, they are full of sick people, and they all wear this weird uniform that kind of reminds me of a Star Trek/Twilight Zone combination. Finally,I hate to hear him cry. It just makes me sad.

Pros- Public safety. It'll get him into school in the fall. We get to visit Dr. Nix, best pediatrician in the state, IMHO. And there's always Sonic afterwards to help wash the tears away and the Tylenol down. Oh yeah, and the benefit of not having to get those dreaded diseases that might pop up unexpectedly, too.

Yeah, If I could get out of it, I would. I kinda of think between aloe, vinegar, chamomille, and garlic I could ward off most things that'll cause trouble. But I probably would mess that up too.

So off we go.... I guess I answered my question.

Sub scandal!!!

I've got 2 teachers out in my grade today... One is in the hospital, she's trying not to get dehydrated from a virus (not of the swine variety). The other one had a malfunctioning car.

Well, 2 subs showed up for one job. I think I'm going to make them mud wrestle to decide who the winner is.

Now, my good buddy Jane is handling it, but I'm hearing rising voices from the next room over. I should intervene, but I'd rather listen, and blog. (This is probably why they don't let teachers near the computers during the school day).

Gotta run, Gestapo is coming!

Quotes of the Week

"Dad, are you a lover or a fighter?" -- Joshua

"Mom, what's 1026 times 134?" Why do you ask? "I was just lying in bed thinking about that. So, can I get a calculator and figure it out??" No! Go back to bed. -- conversation between Ryan and Mom at 9:47pm

"Who made the world? hee hee, I know, I know! God did!" --- Joshua

"Can I use the computer for my new Webkinz toy?It's ok, you don't have to show me how, I'm a genius at this computer stuff." -- Ryan

Greetings, from TAKS Hell

Happy TAKS day everyone. Give your publicly educated children a break tonight. They've had to endure a day of silence, testing, and grumpy teachers. Please understand, no real teaching occurs today, if you live in Texas anyway. So don't ask them what they learned today. I promise, if they learned anything, it was from "Jim" in the bathroom, and you really don't want to know.

As a teacher, I feel a little like a felon even writing on my blog during the school day, but today especially. This is the day that teachers get treated like imbeciles. No cell phones, no computers, no contact with the outside world. Must protect test confidentiality, ya know. Make sure to actively monitor. And no, that's not code for "sit at the front of the room with a magazine" anymore. No siree, we must walk around the room, ad nauseum, to make sure no one cheats. Now, we can't look at the tests. And we can't answer any questions. So I'm not sure how to know if they are cheating or not, but that's what we are told to do. And we do it. Well, those who give the test do it.

As a 2nd grade teacher, I don't have to give the test. My students won't be initiated into that club until next year. No, Instead I get to keep 20 smart and curious kids quiet for 6 hours. It's one of the days it sucks to have the GT class. See, they will find ways to talk. And you can't keep them busy enough. Packets are for pansies and are finished quickly and correctly. These are the kids that love packets. Free writing works well for a while, but they all want to share what they wrote, or they are figuring out how to make major owweee pokey things out of the spiral metal thing on their notebooks. So I am driven to free draw time and threats of parental e-mails by lunch. Man, I love my job!

And I haven't even mentioned the rain yet. If you are under a rock, Houston is flooded. The whole west side is virtually under water. We are fine up north, but it hasn't really stopped raining since about 4 pm yesterday. So, all outside activities are not possible.

Well, that's my day... Gonna write a happy post soon.

I promise! :)

Gotta see this

All my Twilight friends really need to check out today's cakewrecks blog! So funny what people will do with cake decorating!

Really, gotta check it out...

http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/2009/04/twilight-of-our-discontent.html

Have you ever??

Have you ever had a day when you put your boots on before your pants? You know, done things out of order and realized it just a little too late? It can cause quite a mess. If you have, you aren't alone. We all get things out of order some times and just can't seem to make it right, until we step back, sit down, take off the boots and start fresh. Have you done that lately?? If not, give it a try. It's a little embarrassing at the start, but once you get started, it all feels right.

Now, the scary thing is, Josh doesn't look like he minds too much. Maybe he's trying to be a fashion plate, or maybe he's just enjoying the breeze, but this will sure make some great blackmail for later in life. Unfortunately, when we get stuff out of order in life, it can be more than just a little embarrassing picture. Don't assume that because people are smiling sheepishly in your direction that they think you are so cute and adorable. They might be trying to find a nice way to say "you forgot your pants again today".

How school districts are cutting back...

With our tenuous economic times, you know that school districts have felt the pinch as well. So how do they go about cutting back you might wonder??? Well, the big three perks of course: transportation, cleaning,and general funds.... Transportation is much less available for those extras like field trips and sports events. The cleaning crew is on a "critical cleaning" schedule.. that means campuses only get cleaned about every 4 or 5 days. Yep, so my floor has cuttings and lunch from Friday ground in. We havn't had anyone dust since 2002, so we don't miss that much anymore. And don't even think anyone cleans the desk tops or chalk (yes we still have chalk) trays. Just imagine the one room school house era, we'll be getting our own wood and calling parents to vacuum on a regular schedule soon, too. Now, the all famous general fund is that magic pool of money that campuses have to buy stuff they need, like paper, pens, science experiment supplies, all the day to day operating budget. This year, about 2 months into school, they asked/told all principals to cut their budgets by 10%. After they had already started the year.

Fun time fun times.. Gotta go get my vacuum... Then do my paperwork with chalk.

My head's about to explode

What a week! And it's only Tuesday
1. Chris had major paper due Monday. He thought it stunk. Then he found out he didn't do so hot on a major test and realized that his prof really might be one of the worst teachers ever. Great preacher does not equal great teacher. Just FYI

2. Car brakes. Need I say more?? Got to pick up "The Hulk" this afternoon after having the back calipers, rotors , and other car words replaced. Cha-ching.. bye-bye $400. Like we have $400 for car repairs. But wait.. there's more

3. Clutch. Chris's clutch (on his black car, not personally) is going out. It currently take a whole lot of sweet talking, caressing, and brute force to get from 1st to 2nd gear. And don't try to downshift.. It just isn't going to happen. Remember, this is the car, and not my husband we are talking about here.

4. School sucks. spring fever... week before TAKS.. gearing up for end of year stuff.. pregnant teachers.. old teachers.. young teachers... menopausal teachers.. all in my grade level. And I'm not any of them.... My big question is "When can I teach something??" Not that I have time to plan it.. but really, when??

5. My dog has fleas... and he's allergic. Can't get rid of them cuz it's that time of year and they are all over the yards.

6. Cupstack Tournamet on Thursday. Ryan made the team! Yea! Marie has to judge the tournament. Boo! It's loud. It's loud. and the kids are nuts. The kids are really nuts. and it's after school and I've avoided it for 11 years. Guess my time's up.

7. PMS

8. One of my few friends at school is most likely moving. Her husband's a coach. it happens, but I don't have to like it. Her kid and my kid are good friends.

OOohh, the drama! That's my week. Can anyone say "happy hour" on Friday???

I finally saw it!

OK, I finally saw the Twilight movie today. I'm a fan of the books on a very light-hearted, just loving a good story level. And the movie was disappointing. Not because it wasn't like the book (and it wasn't in some very important parts, IMHO). But more because the acting stunk. The images were great and kudos to the camera people who were finding light (or lack thereof)and good scenery of the Pacific Northwest. But Edward and Bella just made my head hurt. While Bella looked right, she wasn't nearly good enough to show the complex character that Stephenie Meyer created. And Edward... puh-leeez... Not even close. He just acted like he had a spike up his butt the whole movie. The screenplay wasn't nearly strong enough to show Bella's thoughts and motivations that made the story even remotely believable. He got accents all screwy and in no way made me believe he had a nineteenth century morality. And that's just the lead actors. Don't get me started on Jasper, Carlisle and Esme.

I'm not feeling confident that the rush schedule of New Moon is going to lend itself to making a better movie, though maybe the new director will help. And I hope that they can help wolf boy get to his necessary height to make me believe it.

I think i'm going to go watch some Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings to remind myself that it is possible to make good books into good movies.

Rainy days

I wonder what it is about rainy days that make me want to be a big ol bum... I'm sure it's just the dark and pitter patter of raindrops. It makes me want to rest and relax. It also makes me long for the sunshine and cool breeze and dryness.

I miss dry. I live in The Woodlands, so dry is just various forms of humid. I envy those people who live in Arizona or Utah when they sweat at 28% humidity. And though I'm sure my skin will have fewer wrinkles in the long run, I wonder if breathing water for so many years is really all that good for me. I won't be asking the frogs who live in my yard about that.

So, back to my rainy day.. lunch with friend, must beat back the laundry, a little cleaning, trip to the bank, some Easter candy snuck from the boys baskets (bye-bye Cadbury caramel egg perfection) and maybe I'll get to watch that movie my friend loaned me last week. We'll see.. time to go face the rain.

Easter

Fun times at Easter. We went to a passion play on Sat at one of Chris's professor's church. Josh was WAY into it. i really felt sorry for the people sitting nearby, but who would not answer "Mommy, why did they do that to him?" Precious.

On Sunday, we went to church with Jeremy and Shabree. So nice to have them with us. Maybe they'll even come back. Then off to Papaw and Mimi's house. And got soaked in the downpour. Which ended by the time we left the neighborhood. Go figure.

I am really blessed to enjoy my in laws.

Huh?

I just had to upload this so you'd know what I work with every day. It really does explain my mood.

I Must confess...

I am a blogger dropout. I can't keep up. Between e-mail, facebook, alumni forums, and work, who has time to electronically journal in a static format?? I should make time, but I don't. Maybe I'll keep trying, but I don't think anyone reads it anyway. And I do HATE writing. Really. I love to give my opinion. and maybe I'd like it more if i did it more, but not sure I'm going to take that road. I just had to say it. I think I feel better, too. :)